Abstract:
This chapter reviews the policy developments and the operational and financial performance
of farmer cooperatives in Tanzania, with emphasis on the second half of the last decade. It
recommends careful planning of the restructuring process, improvements in financial
management and accountability, training of key cooperative personnel, and promotion of full
democratization of the farmer cooperative system. Before independence cooperatives were
formed largely as business enterprises and organized from the "grass root" level by members
on a democratic basis. However, after independence the state reversed this policy, and
cooperatives were then organized on a "top-down" approach under a political environment that
was largely unsympathetic to principles of cooperative development. A multipurpose
cooperative society was expected to engage in a variety of activities for its members including
crop production and marketing, input supply, running of consumer shops, provision of social
services, etc.
